Field Service Palm Springs 2024

May 06 - 08, 2024

JW Marriott Desert Springs, Palm Springs, CA

Field Service Innovation Briefing

Three cases demonstrate how interactive merged reality environments are driving collaboration and competitive value using everyday mobile technologies

A Custom Report by:

HelpLightning Logo
FS Logo
WBR Insights logo

Overview

As field service organizations face increasing pressure to offer competitive service models, new technologies are transforming the way technicians connect with customers, enhance customer experiences, and drive business value. Companies excelling in this area are leading the industry as service value parallels products in their search for a competitive edge.

In this report, we take a look at how Help Lightning’s remote video support AR technology is driving success for three companies and their eld service operations. We’ll explore how these companies are improving the way they onboard new technicians, expanding customer support, optimizing service visits, building personal connections with their customers, and driving calculable business results as a result.

Diversey Overcomes Service Barriers and Builds Customer Relationships with Help Lightning’s Remote Video Support AR Technology

image

Diversey is the industry leader of smart, sustainable solutions for cleaning and hygiene in both B2B and B2C markets. Diversey has been, and always will be, a pioneer and facilitator for life. They constantly deliver revolutionary cleaning and hygiene technologies that provide total con dence to their customers across all of their global sectors. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, Diversey employs approximately 9,000 people globally, with net sales of approximately $2.6 billion in 2017.

In the cleaning technologies industry, customers increasingly look to vendors for quality service and experiences as distinguishing competitive factors. At Diversey, building service relationships with customers has its foundation in operational readiness.

“They want their chemical dispensers to work every time,” says Andrew Martin, Marketing Technology Global Portfolio Manager at Diversey. “When you flip the switch, it works—if not, we can get it repaired in minutes. The faster we can tend to their solution, the better off for both sides.”

The company created its First Time Right (FTR) service policy with the requisite that technicians have a full understanding of technical issues and acquire the exact-right tools before arriving on site, allowing both Diversey and its customers to better manage their time.

Overcoming Service Barriers

Diversey strives to provide customers with complete reliability, not only in their equipment but in service itself. “Our customers must be able to count on us,” says Martin. Diversey wanted to rise above common industry issues—unnecessary delays to client productivity due to communication problems, or technicians’ unpreparedness when facing common fixes, for example.

With this in mind, the company began looking for ways to improve connectivity and overcome language barriers with customers in multiple geographies. This would allow them to streamline troubleshooting and uphold their FTR policy, no matter the client’s location. They found the solution in Help Lightning’s remote video support AR technology, which allows them to easily personalize service solutions.

“When it comes to Help Lightning’s technology, it’s really about building a personal connection,” says Martin. “It’s about two people working on a problem at the same time so the customer truly ‘gets it.’”

Finding a Collaborative Partner in Help Lightning

Diversey appreciated the availability Help Lightning provided and the degree to which Help Lightning was willing to invest—and continues to invest—in their solution. Since Help Lightning’s solution can be used on common mobile devices, putting the technology in the hands of their customers was easy.

“They want their chemical dispensers to work every time. When you flip the switch, it works—if not, we can get it repaired in minutes."

“Customers have work to do, and they have confidence that we will get the job done,” says Martin. “This service is helping us build that relationship much more effectively... They know there is a person paying 100% attention to their needs right now.”

According to Martin, the biggest advantage of Help Lightning’s technology is its remote video support AR technology; unlike other technologies in the market, the solution doesn’t require an additional license to be purchased by the end user. It allows technicians and customers to use their existing tools without additional training or equipment, streamlining adoption with a superior user experience.

“Think of your customer first, and keep devices and technology simple.”

As a result, the solution eliminates customer frustration ahead of time. Customers can rely on a timely resolution upon the technician’s arrival before continuing with their work. Now that both customers and technicians can better manage their time, they can build their relationships and transform the service experience into added value.

Help Lightning’s frequent and seamless updates and new features—ensuring their technology integrates with the most recent devices—is another distinguishing success factor.

“They listen to their customers with things that they need—things we nd that could help us do a better job working with our customers,” says Martin. “There is almost a comfort aspect to it as it has the capabilities to provide good service, and even if that technician isn’t 100% an expert on what they’re working on, they have the resources available to them.”

Building Relationships between Technicians and Customers

The technicians themselves report greater confidence each time they visit customers, even if they have had little experience working with particular equipment on site. Using Help Lightning’s technology, a veteran Diversey technician is always within their reach.

This eliminates the need for costly off-site trainings. “Our technicians have the confidence to x problems when they have a slew of veterans in their pocket,” says Martin. “People have it, use it, and there is no learning curve. That’s what makes merged reality so incredible—when adding merged reality with our technicians and tools, it’s like someone is right there with them.”

Exceptional Results

Diversey is seeing both qualitative bene ts in the close relationships they are building with customers as well as speedier, less costly training and x rates in all aspects of their service operations. This includes specific cost savings in terms of truck rolls, increased operational readiness and the success of their FTR policy. Direct results from use of the Help Lightning Technology include:

  • 10% – 15% savings on truck rolls for service that would have been ‘no fault found’
  • 15% – 20% increase in first-time fix rates
  • 20% – 30% reduction in resolution times using Help Lightning system
  • Growing adoption rate of the Help Lightning system

“Think of your customer first, and keep devices and technology simple"

BUNN Adopts Remote Video Support AR Technology for New Technician Onboarding and Significant Service Network Growth

image

BUNN is at the forefront of all dispensed beverage equipment manufacturers with a full portfolio of innovative products and first-in-industry technologies. The BUNN equipment portfolio is managed by teams headquartered in Springfield, IL USA who listen, anticipate and meet emerging trends for every channel.

Before investing in Help Lightning’s remote video support AR technology, BUNN had a go-to- market strategy that included a large third-party service provider network that managed most of their work orders. When they decided to grow their business, they chose to grow their own staff of service technicians.

“We knew we would ramp-up quickly and needed a way to help these folks that are new to the industry, or at least new to us, come up to speed swiftly,” says Tim Spencer, Senior Vice President and General Manager Service Operations at BUNN.

This was also the largest year in the company’s history for releasing new products, so BUNN was ramping up their service network signi cantly. They needed to rapidly onboard new technicians, but traditional classroom environments seemed too lengthy, expensive, and complex in terms of logistics.

A Winning Alternative to Wearables

Spencer’s team first looked into wearables as a better alternate training solution to classroom environments.

But outfitting the majority of their technicians with wearable devices wasn’t cost effective, as BUNN’s service network consisted of several hundred technicians.

“When you boil that out of the equation, there weren’t many players left,” says Spencer. “Help Lightning is a very cost-effective solution, and they were the only ones with this unique merged reality capability.”

In Help Lightning, BUNN found superior cost- to-value in that they could implement the AR technology without an upfront investment in hardware. Technicians and third-parties can employ the tool using common smartphones and devices.

“It was a fast way to onboard all technicians, whether your own or third-party, to make them all experts right away,” says Spencer. “It was also a long-term investment as you’re getting them familiar with the technology.”

A New Pathway to Best-In-Class Service

In addition to transforming onboarding and training processes, Help Lightning’s AR technology is positively impacting the way BUNN delivers service in both tangible bene ts and appeal.

“When you’re talking to a customer about why you’re different and why they should choose you versus a competitor, it pays to have something to talk about,” says Spencer. “Sometimes it’s a little bit of sizzle, and sometimes it’s a little bit of value—in this case, it’s both.”

BUNN has achieved a better utilization of their people—tasks that once required an hour of a technician’s time now take only minutes. Along with cost savings, less downtime, and fewer and shorter service calls, customers have a greater sense of dependability and comfort knowing the technology is there to support them in addition to BUNN’s service teams.

“We’ve built a program for the customer to demonstrate that value, which essentially steals business from our competitors.”

In terms of best-in-class service, BUNN has found several applications for the technology beyond enhancing regular service:

• On-the Job Training
BUNN can con rm new or inexperienced technicians are successful by engaging them in a help session via the technology, either during or after a service visit.

“We’ve done that quite often with third-party service providers,” says Spencer. “Everyone appreciates the value of on-the-job training; we can scale it out with this method without the additional expense.”

• Quality Assurance
When servicing BUNN’s new or complex products, technicians engage in a help session to ensure they understand the nuances of the equipment and the customer. In this way, BUNN technicians can mitigate and resolve unique issues, no matter the case or scale. “The technician can aim the camera at their work and we can say it’s done right,” says Spencer. “We have them show us their work and we can determine if their quality is up to our standards.”

• Technical Support
Technicians in BUNN’s central technical support area can provide 24/7 support, even when they are on call and away from the office. “If we get a call after hours and a Help Lightning session can help, on-call technicians can provide support from home with their smartphones,” says Spencer. “Our technicians love that availability, whether they’re on call or in the field.”

Now, customers ask BUNN if they can expand the use of Help Lightning’s AR technology into other areas of their business, beyond the way BUNN had initially engaged them.

Creating More Personalized Service with Expanded Help Sessions

Recently, Help Lightning expanded the usefulness of its tool with a capability that supports the inclusion of a third party during help sessions. In this way, BUNN is expanding upon the two-way conversations between remote technicians and central-office technicians, providing them with additional support.

For example, BUNN can introduce a third seasoned technician, a relevant product engineer, a sales person, or a third-party manufacturer who can talk through potential solutions relative to the customer’s environment. Since BUNN always has the right people available, they have the capacity to resolve any unique issue.

“The list of ways to further utilize this tool by virtue of introducing a third party into the conversation is long,” says Spencer. “We’ve already done this many times with great success.”

“Everyone appreciates the value of on-the-job training; we can scale it out with this method without the additional expense."

A New Pathway to Growth and Profitability

BUNN has become proactive in how they retrain, retrench, validate, qualify, and ensure quality in their delivery of service. They bring technicians up to speed faster, validate their work, and build out technicians’ soft skills as well.

“When we bring someone new to our organization we want them to understand our culture, and this tool helps us to transfer that culture to our growing staff,” says Spencer. “Engaging with our new folks helps us to teach them how we would fix something to our standards—how we want them to leave the workplace and the equipment, the level of cleanliness we expect, and more.”

The company’s new path involves winning additional revenue by virtue of using Help Lightning’s remote video support AR technology. Already, they are approaching prospects and showing them what they can do with the tool.

“We’ve built a program for the customer to demonstrate that value, which essentially steals business from our competitors,” says Spencer. “I’d highly recommend it because it has been so great for us.”

“We’ve built a program for the customer to demonstrate that value, which essentially steals business from our competitors. I’d highly recommend it because it has been so great for us."

BD Partners with Help Lightning to Transform Customer Relationships and Ongoing Service Performance

image

BD is a global medical technology company that is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics, and the delivery of care. BD leads in patient and healthcare worker safety and the technologies that enable medical research and clinical laboratories.

As a leading medical technology company, Becton Dickinson (BD) needed an augmented reality (AR) solution that would help their eld engineers and phone teams better support healthcare companies that rely on their products. In order to provide better remote assistance and drive their overall dispatch avoidance rates higher, it was fundamental for BD to bring new technologies into a call center capacity, increase uptime, and improve their service performance.

“We were looking for different technologies that we could utilize to help bridge the gap while working with our customers remotely,” says David Whitmarsh, US Technology Manager at BD. “Our call centers are set up in a way so that call center specialists are the first to help our customers.”

Among a number of providers with AR solutions, Help Lightning’s remote video support AR technology was among the first they piloted. While other companies offered attractive features, many were beyond the scope of what BD actually needed as a service organization. What’s more, they did not provide the merged reality technology and partnership opportunities BD would come to value the most.

“When we evaluated Help Lightning, it was in a different category where we weren’t comparing apples to apples anymore,” says Laura Rehbein,

Technology Portfolio Sr. Manager, Global Technical Services for BD Life Sciences. “We needed a strategy partner with whom we could grow a relationship; the potential to mature in the augmented reality space and see that Help Lightning also has the intent to pick up AR capabilities was enticing.”

Connecting with Customers for Improved Service and Experiences

For BD, providing the best service is not only about performance, but making meaningful connections with their customers to guarantee future successes. As a partner, Help Lightning could learn deeper insights from BD in terms of how to better customize their product to meet the needs of their customers.

“That was really advantageous,” says Rehbein. “Relative to other solutions on the market—and we did pilot others—ease-of-use was the thing that stood out the most for Help Lightning.”

Help Lightning’s merged reality enables BD’s engineers and support teams to visualize work environments in real time and provide accurate directions while working directly with engineers and customers. With complete visibility of the work environment, engineers and support teams can make more accurate diagnoses and part determinations, then immediately transmit solutions to the work site.

“A lot of our competitors don’t have this technology, so it gives us an advantage with the customers that

are dealing with our direct competitors as well,” says Shannon Bray, Senior Manager, US Technical Operations and Customer Delivery at BD. “Now, we stand out.”

As a “customer delight” tool, Help Lightning provides memorable experiences for customers— once they realize its value, they request to use it when BD engineers and support teams work with them again.

Now we see a lot of excitement from our customers,” says Bray. “They ask us, ‘Can you ‘Lightning’ me?’ Now they’ve used it and they know how accessible it is.”

A Lasting Partnership that Drives Performance Value

As a partner, Help Lightning continues to improve, working to make their merged reality technology a more effective solution for their partners in the future. BD is encouraging as many of their groups as possible to adopt Help Lightning, knowing that those groups can customize the solution to fit their unique requirements.

“Before we had Help Lightning, everything was a lot of guesswork—I think once we brought [Help Lightning’s] virtual interactive presence in, it took all the guesswork away,” says Bray. “We realize that value, and that’s why Help Lightning has become part of our SLA package as well.”

Now that Help Lightning advocates at BD are exploring new applications for the technology in other areas of the business, they have ramped up internal efforts to drive adoption:

“We made a space on the calling floor dedicated to Help Lightning,” says Bray. “We have a huge banner that says, ‘Help Lightning strikes here.’ We have tours come through; we have people ask about that and we’ve got some iPad stations right in front of it to draw attention to it.”

This includes internal marketing efforts, success stories, and interactive features that draw attention from all branches of the company and beyond:

“Another BD business unit is using Help Lightning to deploy more junior eld technicians who are going on site and doing an install or a repair procedure for the first time,” says Rehbein. “They’re using Help Lightning as the model to phone home to an expert and have that over-the- shoulder support.”

BD advocates have presented Help Lightning successes at company town halls and to all of their diagnostic divisions as well. “The hype is building, and I think that helps create a buzz,” says Bray. “It keeps our people engaged and gets the word out in our company.”

A Catalyst for Success

As BD continues to use Help Lightning’s remote video support AR technology, and as the technology continues to improve, they are driving their service improvements in terms of performance and the customer experience. Benefits include:

  • Increased dispatch avoidance rate
  • Increased customer ease-of-use
  • Reduced steps on the part of the customer
  • Reduced guesswork when identifying parts solutions
  • Increased adoption with phone system integration, connecting engineers and application specialists
  • Contributed value to incentive programs

But the value extends beyond performance metrics. BD’s service teams are realizing clear qualitative bene ts in how they are developing relationships with their customers.

“The ability to have a video conversation and see your customer face-to-face and really entering their lab with them is the biggest factor,” says Rehbein. “Even if we aren’t avoiding a dispatch or can’t solve a problem the first time, having that deeper relationship with our customers is highly beneficial.”

About the Authors

image

With Help Lightning, we have completely reimagined how businesses, customers and employees are able to give and receive help using merged reality. We’ve eliminated the frustrations and inadequacies of phone or simple video chat, as well as dramatically reduced the need to drive or y to interact in person.

For more information, please visit helplightning.com.

image

Field Service is your one-stop shop for all things service and support; an event where inspiration meets innovation; socializing meets ROI. Experience tons of sessions, interactive learning, guest speakers, and keynotes. Whatever your pain point, we’ve got you covered. Our topics cover every area impacting your business—service revenue, preventative services, connected devices and IoT, customer experience, remote diagnostics, global service, parts management, knowledge management, training and development, workforce management, mobility, help desk support, and a lot more.

For more information, please visit fieldserviceusa.wbresearch.com

image

WBR Insights is the custom research division of WBR (Worldwide Business Research), the world leader in B2B focused conferences. From research- based whitepapers to benchmarking reports, infographics and webinars, our mission is to help global institutions across a variety of industries to inform and educate their key stakeholders while achieving their strategic goals.

For more information, please visit wbrinsights.com.